Absolute Extrema#
Definition
The absolute extrema of a function \(f\):
If \(f(c) \geq f(x)\) for all \(x\) in the domain of \(f\), then \(f(c)\) is called the absolute maximum value of \(f\).
If \(f(c) \leq f(x)\) for all \(x\) in the domain of \(f\), then \(f(c)\) is called the absolute minimum value of \(f\).
Absolute Extrema in a Closed Interval#
If a function \(f\) is continuous on a closed interval \([a,b]\), then \(f\) has both an absolute maximum value and an absolute minimum value on \([a,b]\).
Example 1#
Observe that for a continuous function defined on a closed interval, absolute extrema can either appear at the endpoints of the interval or at the same place as a relative extrema.
Long Text Descriptions
There is a horizontal x axis with the points a and b marked. There is a vertical y axis. The graph of a function is plotted on these axes. The function begins on the left with a red marked point labelled “not a relative extremum,” is decreasing and concave up until it hits a rounded corner at a red marked point labelled “relative minimum,” is increasing and concave up until it hits a hard corner marked red and labelled “relative maximum,” decreases while concave up to a rounded corner at a red marked point labelled “absolute and relative maximum,” and increases and is concave up until it ends at a point labelled “absolute maximum.” There is a vertical dashed line between the point labelled “not a relative extremum” and the point (a,0). There is a vertical dashed line between the point labelled “absolute maximum” and the point (b,0).
How to Find the Absolute Extrema of a Function on a Closed Interval#
Finding Absolute Extrema on a Closed Interval
To find the absolute extrema of a function \(f\) on a closed interval \([a,b]\)
Find the critical points of \(f\) that lie on \((a,b)\).
Compute the value of \(f\) at each critical point found in Step 1 and compute \(f(a)\) and \(f(b)\).
The absolute maximum value and absolute minimum value of \(f\) will correspond to the largest and smallest numbers, respectively, found in Step 2.
Example 2#
Find the absolute extrema of the function
on the interval \([0,3]\).
Step 1: Decide whether \(f\) is continuous on the interval.
Observe that \(f\) is continuous on the closed interval \([0,3]\).
Step 2: Find the critical points of \(f\) on \((0,3)\), if any.
Therefore, \(f'(x)=0\) when \(x=-2/3\) and \(x=2\). But since \(x=-2/3\) is not on the interval \((0,3)\), \(x=2\) is the only critical point on \((0,3)\).
Step 3: Evaluate \(f(x)\) at critical points on \((0,3)\) and the endpoints of \([0,3]\).
Step 4: Find absolute extrema by comparing values from Step 3.
It follows that \(f(2)=-4\) is the absolute minimum value and \(f(0)=4\) is the absolute maximum value.
Example 3#
Find the absolute extrema of the function
on the interval \([-2,1]\).
Step 1: Decide whether \(f\) is continuous on the interval.
Observe that \(f\) is continuous on the closed interval \([-2,1]\).
Step 2: Find the critical points of \(f\) on \((-2,1)\), if any.
Therefore, \(f'(x) = 0\) when \(x=0\) and \(x=-1\), both of which are on \((-2,1)\).
Step 3: Evaluate \(f(x)\) at critical points on \((-2,1)\) and the endpoints of \([-2,1]\).
Step 4: Find absolute extrema by comparing values from Step 3.
It follows that \(f(-2)=-48\) is the absolute minimum value and \(f(1)=9\) is the absolute maximum value.
Example 4#
Find the absolute extrema of the function
on the interval \([2,4]\).
Step 1: Decide whether \(f\) is continuous on the interval.
Observe that \(f\) has a discontinuity at \(x=1\), however this is not on the interval \([2,4]\). Therefore \(f\) is continuous on the closed interval \([2,4]\).
Step 2: Find the critical points of \(f\) on \((2,4)\), if any.
which is never equal to zero, but does always exist on the interval \((2,4)\). Notice that \(x=1\) is not a critical point of \(f\) since \(f(1)\) is not defined. In other words, \(f\) does not have any critical points.
Step 3: Evaluate \(f(x)\) at critical points on \((2,4)\) and the endpoints of \([2,4]\).
Since there are no critical points, we need only evaluate \(f\) at \(x=2\) and \(x=4\).
Step 4: Find absolute extrema by comparing values from Step 3.
It follows that \(f(4)=1/3\) is the absolute minimum value and \(f(2)=1\) is the absolute maximum value.